The marginal error
by R8c4a3l
Summary: What if Zoe had made it onto that roof to save Crazy Earl. A what if story, my take on the Wade/Zoe romance. *one shot
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer *I don't own* Disclaimer

"Stupid, stupid hair" Zoe Hart mumbled as she pulled pin after pin out of her ridiculous hair do. "I asked for a blow out, not a blow up" she started to yank at a practically cemented in pin as she walked through the center of town.

"PRETTY LADY!" Zoe jumped out of her skin. Looking up she spied a male figure teetering on top of roof waving down at her. "THIS IS GOODBYE" he yelled, barely giving her a second glance.

"You've go to be kidding me!EARL?!" She shouted back but got only an exaggerated wobble as a reply. Zoe's heart dropped into her stomach as she watched the drunken man threaten to throw himself off of the roof.

"Man, its that time of the month again?" Zoe spun around quickly to see Tom Long steadily walking towards her.

"What?" she asked confused and then shook her head not really caring. "Run and get someone, he's going to kill him self!"

"Sure thing Doctor Hart" He said giving Crazy Earl a far too entertained half smile before taking off at a steady jog; towards what she hoped was help.

It took five minutes but people started emerging from different corners of the town square. All the while Zoe attempted to talk him down.

"Its okay Earl just take it easy, don't do anything rash!" she pleaded to no avail.

"I'm gonna jump" he threatened again, slurring his words and almost losing his balance. Zoe couldn't take it anymore she quickly raced around to the side of the building and spied the fire escape running straight up the side of the wall.

Zoe centered herself but didn't jump until a collective intake from the crowd spurred her on. She quickly scrambled to gain purchase on the bottom step of the ladder and halled herself up. "Okay Earl, I'm coming" she said, to herself rather then anyone else.

Zoe took the ladder as quickly as she could in five inch heels and grappled her way over the low wall at the top. Crazy Earl was now ten feet in front of her, his arms flung out wide and tripping over his own feet as he stared out over Bluebell.

"Earl?" Zoe tried to put a comforting tone to her voice as she began reasoning with him again.

"What!" he shouted spinning around to see the small brunette carefully making her way towards him. "Pretty lady, I'm gonna jump!" he repeated, but made no further movement as she got closer. Zoe took that as a good sign.

"ZOE!" She heard her name yelled by Shelley, the bar maid, who must have been standing in the crowd. Heck, all of Bluebell must have been down there.

"Easy Earl, just come with me" Zoe tried to reason again, but Earl simply turned back around almost losing his footing on the very edge of the roof.

"I'M JUMPING! TELL MY FAMILY GOODBYE!" he bellowed across Bluebell, arms raised to the sky and eyes closed. Zoe's tongue got stuck in her throat, fear encased her entire body, she was not two feet away from the drunken man and he was going to die.

"I'M JUMPING" One foot precariously dangled over the edge of the building, like he was just going to take another step and be just fine. Zoe's mind raced as to what she could do, but still no words escaped her mouth. As the drunken man leaned forward to topple over the edge, Zoe sprang towards him and Crazy Earl's hand instinctively latched onto her wrist.

"Okay, time to come down" a familiar voice shocked Zoe into yanking her body back and pulling Earl away from the edge; his hand was still holding her wrist in a vice like grip. Wade didn't take his eyes off of the drunken man, trying to calm him down with his body language.

"Leave me! I'm not moving" he slurred, dragging himself and Zoe back to the edge of the roof. Her eyes widened as she realized what a position she had put herself in. There was no way of getting Earl to let go without him freaking out, and freaking out was the difference between staying alive and being smushed on the pavement below.

"You're not gonna jump" Wade said his palms up. Earl just looked down from the edge, Zoe could feel her heart beating in her ears. This was how she was going to die. Dragged off a roof in Bluebell, Alabama.

"Wade" she almost whimpered, her voice so quiet she wasn't sure he had heard her.

"HERE I GO!" Earl screamed.

"NO!" Zoe yelped, he breathing coming in short gasps.

"Dammit Earl come with me!" Wade moved forwards, a protective arm reaching across Zoe's body and almost touching Crazy Earl. "Stop this!"

"I won't" Earl replied stubbornly, looking at the bar tender for the first time that night.

"I'm not gonna do it" Wade said, shaking his head. 'Wait? Do what?!' Zoe's head screamed, but she knew that wouldn't help the situation. "Now come on, look at the Doc there, she's about to pee her pants"-Wade and Earl gave her a sideways glance-"Come with me before you hurt yourself"

"Only. If. You. Do. It" Earl wobbled ever so slightly and Zoe almost squeaked with fright. Wade finally looked at her, his piercing blue eyes a steel trap she was ready to fall into, if it meant staying alive.

He reverted his gaze to Earl "No, just come with me"

Crazy Earl leaned his body far over the edge, dragging Zoe with him...

"MOON RIVER wider then a mile!"-Earl pulled himself back a small smile playing on his face. Zoe's body was flooding with adrenaline-"I'm crossing you in style, some day" Wade flung a hateful glare at Earl, (which he seemed to miss) but continued to sing anyway.

Zoe couldn't keep her eyes off of Wade "Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker" and to her surprise Earl started to sing along too. "Where ever you're going, I'm going your way" the drunken man seemed to lose himself in the song as the crowd belong took up the melody as well.

A sharp tug on Zoe's wrist sent her flying forwards, everything went black for a second before she felt herself held stock still, encompassed in two strong arms. She opened her eyes quickly to see the ground staring up at her, this time she couldn't help the small cry that escaped her mouth.

"Its okay Doc" Wade soothed, pulling her back carefully onto the safety of the roof. He placed her behind him, a worried glance quickly swept away by sheer determination. "I'm done"

Earl stared to run towards the edge again and Wade flung himself forward without thinking. "We're after the same, rainbows end"-Wade's arms where now fully in front of the wobbling man and he was clearly on his last nerve-"waiting round the bend, my huckleberry friend, moon river and me"

As the song finished Earl took a deep bow and a shit eating grin plastered across the man's face. Zoe couldn't help but stare in wonder at the man that had saved not only her life but Crazy Earl's as well. The crowd bellow broke out into applause and Zoe almost didn't hear Wade coaxing Earl away from the edge "Okay, okay, Hey DAD, It's time to go home, lets go"

'Dad?" Zoe's mind cried out. She watched blindly as Wade helped his father down off of the roof and she followed slowly behind them. Wade didn't once spare her a backwards glance.

Upon landing her feet on solid ground Lavon Hayes bounded up next to her, a petrified look on his face. "Dammit Zoe, what did you think you were doing?"

"I was trying to help" she stated breathlessly. "What was all that?" she said gesturing to the roof and at the retreating figures of Earl and his Son.

"Every month, Earl cashes his government check and heads straight for the licker store. Then he gets drunk, he climbs up on that roof and every month his son comes and sings him down"

"Wow" Zoe couldn't believe it, but she'd seen it happen. She'd been apart of it. Zoe watched in awe as the guy she thought was a jerk, became the man that continuously beat the odds. "I had no idea"

"You know what? Yeah, maybe 99 out of 100 people will disappoint you. I don't know, I think, we find the magic of the world in the marginal error"

That night the last thing Zoe saw of Wade, was him hiking his drunk father higher onto his shoulder and practically carrying the man home.

"Come on, I'll give you a ride home, you need to relax and wash that mess of a hair style out"


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer *I don't own* Disclaimer

Zoe's only thoughts at this moment in time was making it up to the reverend and his wife. Okay so maybe there was a 1% chance and hell if she didn't try to fix it. After a short conversation with the two most loving people she had ever met Zoe was left stumped and feeling even more guilty then she'd felt all morning.

Walking along besides the couple Zoe couldn't help that bubbling feeling in her stomach, the one she got when she knew everything was all her fault.

"Sorry, its just you two are the real deal. Sweet, loving, I've never met people like you before" her apology didn't seem nearly enough but the serene smiles of happy couple told her differently.

"Clearly we can do better" The reverend said giving his wife's shoulder a loving squeeze. "We will do better"

"The important thing is, we're back together and we're working things out and just in time for the Pancake Breakfast" Zoe was taken off guard by the woman's optimism, back in New York and after a scandal like this no one would be coming.

"Yeah, about that, I don't think anyone's coming" she spat out, staring them both square on in the face. "The gossip and all, that was my fault too. Brick leaves for a week and I break the town"

"Don't be silly Zoe. Sure we all have our doubts from time to time, but there's one thing we will always believe in _Bluebell_" The couple both said that final word together and Zoe had to remind herself not for the first time since moving, that she wasn't in New York anymore so the same rules didn't always apply.

And to her ever present surprise, in the center of town, the Pancake breakfast was going off without a hitch.  
It was a picturesque scene of orange juice, garden tables and smiling faces. It was like nothing she'd ever seen before.

Spying the now familiar outline of one Wade Kinsella seated by himself, drove Zoe to merge with the crowd and weave her way through tables in his direction. The warm Alabama breeze ruffled her hair and left a welcome feeling inside her soul "Hey" she smiled, looking down at Wade while he finished his bite. The way his jawline curved into a natural smirk whenever she was around, made a different feeling settle in her stomach.

"Coffee" she said pointing to the cup she was holding in her hands "and on a Sunday" the sarcasm quite evident in her voice.

Wade leaned back in his chair "This town aint as backwards as you thought" he smiled crookedly, his eyes sparkling with something she couldn't place.

"What you did for your dad, I thought it was kind of heroic" Zoe quickly tripped over her words, the way Wade was looking at her was making her nervous. The Hero in question to a deep breath and looked away from her, his eyes downcast.

"When your dad's the town drunk, you get used to climbing roofs" he sighed heavily, bitterness lacing his words. "That's all, doesn't mean anything"

"It does, even if you don't think so" Zoe didn't know what possessed her but she leant down besides his ear and whispered "You'll still be my hero" she delicately kissed his cheek and stepped back, amusement licking her features. Wade looked utterly gobsmacked and it took him a second of looking everywhere but at her before he spoke.

"Look, I'm heading back to the Plantation, you want a ride?"

Zoe searched around the gathering "Actually I'm gonna stick around for a while". Wade made to leave when Zoe spoke up again "Fancy keeping me company?"

Wade settled back into his seat and gestured to the one opposite him, which Zoe gladly took.

"Speaking of my heroism, why the hell did you go up on that roof?"

"Oh, you know, I'm a New Yorker" she said smiling, as if that was the answer to all his questions. "Hey Lavon!"

The mayor walked over to their little table, smiling and greeting his townspeople along the way. "Your eating pancakes?" he said staring blankly at the empty plate in the middle of the table.

"Oh, no, their Wades" she said pointing to the man, who was too busy smiling at her to notice anything.

"You coming to Church then?" The mayor said in a voice that sounded like he knew she wouldn't.

"First time for everything" she looked at Wade before continuing "I thought I should check out what this whole 1% thing was about"

"Oh did you really? Well come on then" he held out a hand for Zoe to take, like a proper southern gentleman and said as an after thought "You too Wade"

"What? I don't DO church" he said indignantly.

"You do today" Zoe pulled him up out of his seat and practically dragged him through the white wood doors. Little did she know, Wade was enjoying the attention a little too much. "Do you think it matters that I'm half Jewish?"


End file.
